Snowed In
by TessaStarDean
Summary: JackChloe post Day6. Chloe refuses to stay for Christmas, but the weather has other plans...


"Why won't you stay?" he asked for the hundredth time, ignoring the pointed look from the cabby.

"We've already gone through this, Chase," Chloe muttered.

"C'mon, Chloe –"

"No. This is your first Christmas back together with Kim. I refuse to intrude on that."

"You wouldn't be intruding," he argued. "Kim wants you to stay, too. And Angela."

"You can't use Angela. That's not fair."

"Fine. But Kim really wants you to stay, Chloe."

"Trust me, Chase. You're going to be really thankful when you wake up Christmas morning and you DON'T have a guest to entertain."

"You're not a guest," he said firmly. "You're family."

She sighed. "What if I promise to stay next year?"

He eyed her warily. "You promise?"

Chloe nodded. "Absolutely."

"I still don't like it, but I know how stubborn you are. So I guess I don't really have a choice."

Chloe smiled at him. "I'm glad you finally see things my way."

Mock glaring at her, Chase moved closer and enveloped her in a big bear hug. He suspected the real reason that she wouldn't stay, but he couldn't bring himself to confront her with it. He didn't want to make her suffer – not at Christmas. So he held her tightly, making her promise that she would call them Christmas morning. When she finally agreed, he pulled back, blinking back a few tears.

"Don't get mushy on me," she warned.

"I just don't like to think of you alone during the holidays."

"I'll be fine," she assured him. "I'm a big girl, Chase. I can handle it."

"I know," he said quietly, brushing a stray hair from her face. "Doesn't mean you should have to, though."

Giving him a sad smile, Chloe leaned in and kissed him gently on the cheek.

"Merry Christmas, Chase."

Squeezing his hand one last time, she got into the waiting cab and shut the door before he could argue with her again. She didn't really want to leave, but she knew that it was probably better in the end. Fighting back tears, she refused to look back as the taxi pulled away into the oncoming snow.

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Chloe didn't like airports, and Dulles was no exception. People milled around everywhere, jostling her as she tried to get to one of the screens that would tell her if her flight was going to be on time. By the time she got within sight of one of them, her scowl was in full-force, and she was feeling anything but filled with Christmas joy.

Her mood didn't improve when she saw that her flight had been canceled. A string of expletives leapt from her mouth, making the man next to her stare in wide-eyed admiration.

"Wow."

Chloe turned to look at him, her frown deepening. "Excuse me?"

"Nothing. It's just…you seem surprised that your flight got canceled."

"Aren't you?"

He looked at her closely, wondering if she was serious. "You're joking, right?" he asked. "Didn't you see the near blizzard going on out there?"

She turned to look out one of the windows and realized that he was right. Apparently she had been so caught up in her thoughts on the ride over that she had completely missed the worsening weather.

Sighing, she turned back to the man beside her. "Guess I'd better get a hotel then."

"Small chance of that."

Chloe frowned again. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that the Washington area is packed with people trying to get out for the holidays. All the hotels are full – the airport staff is handing out blankets and pillows to the people that are stuck here for the night." He paused, looking around. "You know, I managed to get a room. If you wanted to…"

"No," she said firmly. "Thanks. I'll just stay here."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself." Then he turned and walked away, disappearing in the crowd.

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There was nothing comfortable about trying to sleep in an airport. Chloe didn't even try the chairs; she knew how uncomfortable they would be in a couple hours. Instead, she found an isolated corner, setting her blanket down so that she wouldn't have to sit on the dirty floor. Propping the pillow up against the wall, she sat down and prepared for a long night.

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She couldn't sleep. There was simply no way for her to get comfortable on a hard marble floor in the middle of an airport. Pulling clothes out of her carry-on, Chloe had made a make-shift nest for herself, but still she found that she was wide awake. Sighing in frustration, she sat up and leaned against the wall again, admitting to herself that if her flight wasn't ready to go in the morning, she was going to have to find a way back to Chase and Kim's place.

A step sounded next to her, and Chloe opened her mouth to tell whoever it was to leave her alone – she had already been approached by four guys who thought they could convince her to stay at their place until the storm died. But she found that as she looked up, the words caught in her throat, rendering her speechless.

"Hey, Chloe," he said quietly, his blue eyes staring at her sadly.

Swallowing hard, she finally found her voice. "Jack?" she whispered.

He gestured at the spot next to her. "May I?"

Unable to think of anything to say, Chloe just nodded. He slowly sat beside her, close enough that their arms and legs brushed up against one another. She struggled to control her breathing, to remember how to speak coherent sentences. But the shock of his presence and proximity threw her completely off-kilter.

"What are you doing here?" Jack finally asked.

"My flight was canceled," she answered lamely.

He nodded. "It's snowing pretty hard out there. But that's not what I meant. What are you doing in Washington?"

"I…I came to see Chase."

"That means you saw Angela and Kim as well." Chloe nodded. "Why didn't you stay for Christmas?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I didn't want to intrude."

"We both know that's not true, Chloe." He paused, looking out at the airport around them. "Why didn't you come see me?" he asked quietly.

That was the one question that she had been dreading. Tears flooded her eyes unbidden, and she struggled to keep herself under control. Swallowing back a lump, she tried to infuse some strength into her voice.

"You made it pretty clear that you didn't want anything from me, Jack. I didn't want to show up on your doorstep and make you have to pretend to be happy to see me."

He frowned, his gaze locked on her profile as she refused to meet his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"The last time you left CTU, you didn't even say goodbye," she explained, hating the way her voice wobbled. "It's been over a year and you haven't tried to get in touch, not even to let me know that you were okay. So don't worry, Jack, I figured it out. I'll keep my distance."

Her words shocked him to the core. Never had he thought that his absence hurt her, that his lack of parting words had caused her distress. As he sat there staring at her, things slowly began to click into place.

"That's why you wouldn't stay for Christmas," he said quietly. "You knew I'd come see Kim and Chase, and you didn't want to see me."

"I just knew that if I saw you again…"

"What, Chloe? What did you know?"

The tears were spilling down her cheeks now, and she knew there was no way to hide the truth from him. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she stared down at the ground.

"I need to get over you, Jack. I know I should've gotten the message when you left, but I knew that if I saw you again…I'd remember all the reasons I fell in love with you."

Jack sat there in stunned silence. He had convinced himself that she hated him, that she had finally realized how much he had taken from her and how little he had given back. He had been prepared for her to brush him off or to yell at him. But as he sat watching her, he suddenly knew that he had misjudged everything.

Reaching forward, he gently wiped the tears from her face. Still she refused to look at him, though, and Jack's heart broke at the sight of her in so much pain.

"Come home with me," he whispered.

Chloe looked at him sharply. "Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't pity me, Jack. I deserve better than that."

He slid closer to her, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and hugging her tightly to him.

"I didn't leave because of you, Chloe," he murmured in her ear.

"I know that," she snapped.

"I didn't say goodbye because –"

"Because it didn't even cross your mind. I know."

"That's not why," he said firmly. "I didn't say goodbye because I knew that if I saw you again, I wouldn't be able to leave. But I _had_ to leave, Chloe, and you weren't mine to hold on to. So I walked away. I thought I was doing the right thing."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You were with Morris. I had no right to rock the boat."

"Did you want to? Rock the boat, I mean."

"Yes."

Chloe struggled to find words. "But…I mean…you and I were just friends."

"Chloe," he said gently, running his thumb along her cheekbone. "We've always been more than just friends." Seeing the ghost of a smile on her lips, he kept going. "Stay," he whispered. "Stay for Christmas. Give me a chance to convince you to stay for good."

"Are you sure?" she asked, her resolve cracking.

"Yes."

She kissed him then, pressing her lips firmly to his, afraid that she would suddenly wake up and it would all be a dream. But he returned her kiss, his head tilting as he slid his tongue into her mouth, his arms pulling her even closer. It wasn't until she realized that she was in his lap, one of his hands under her shirt, that Chloe remembered they were in an airport. Reluctantly, she pulled back.

"Come home with me," he whispered, a hint of pleading in his voice.

She nodded, smiling. "Okay."

Untangling themselves, they stood up, gathering Chloe's things. As they walked toward the door, Jack slipped his hand into hers, entwining their fingers.

"Chase will be happy to see you tomorrow," he said.

Chloe nodded. "How did you know I was here? Did he call you?"

Jack nodded. "He saw on the news that all flights were cancelled. He said this was my one chance to get you back, and if I didn't take it, I didn't deserve to ever have you. I realized he was right and got in the car."

She frowned, remembering the snow. "Is it safe to drive?"

He chuckled sheepishly. "Not exactly."

"So how –"

He pulled out a hotel key. "I got us a room."

Chloe tried to hide the smirk on her face, but failed. "That was pretty presumptuous of you."

"Not really," he defended. "I'd have needed a place to stay even if you said no."

"That's true," she conceded.

Squeezing her hand, he smiled at her. "I'm really glad I don't have to go back alone, though."

"Me too," she whispered.


End file.
